


Bad Manga

by Twyd



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Angst, Attempt at Humor, Blackmail, Blood, Blood Drinking, Corny, Creepy, Developing Relationship, Dubious Consent, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Organized Crime, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rescue, Slash, Trauma, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 08:59:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16762039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twyd/pseuds/Twyd
Summary: Sex. Violence. Vampires. The Yakuza. Just another day in Ikebukuro.Or, Izaya is kidnapped by his blood-sucking boss, and Shizuo saves the day.





	Bad Manga

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by some of the INSANELY good Shikizaya work on this site, so thank you for that :D
> 
> Note that my title and jokes meant no offense to any manga ever. Ever. Manga is good.

The gleaming white car pulls away as the light turns green, silent and smooth as a snake. Its windows are dark, and the engine quiet. In the backseat, Izaya is naked on Shiki’s lap. His wrists are bound behind his back, and he is gagged. He is covered in blood. Shiki has to confess, one of the reasons he liked white suits was how they looked when they had blood all over them. He gets through a lot of white suits.

He draws his claws down Izaya’s chest again, drawing fresh lines of blood that he leans into lick. His dick is still stretching Izaya out, although he does not move his hips and does not touch him. The informant is hard, panting, disoriented. Shiki is rather impressed, though; he still hasn't cried. 

“Oh, Izaya, Izaya,” Shiki sighs, moving up to lap at some of the blood on the informant’s throat. “I did warn you.”

There is a little muffle of frustration behind the gag. Izaya bucks his hips just slightly, but Shiki doesn’t respond. He has excellent self-control.

“You tried my patience one time too many.”

The car stops then, and Izaya tenses.

Akabayashi steps inside and closes the door behind him.

“Evening, Shiki. Izaya.” The other man nods politely, his eyes raking over Izaya’s naked body. “Save me a bite, would you? Dead or alive.”

“Of course.”

They move on to other matters. Izaya starts to squirm in Shiki’s lap.

“Izaya,” Shiki tuts, interrupting himself. “I’ve been paying attention to you for three hours now. Give me a minute, would you?”

“Perhaps he would like my attention too,” Akabayashi offers.

“You can wait,” Shiki says. “I’m the one who’s had to deal with him all these years.”

Their conversation resumes, and Izaya does not struggle again. Shiki is still inside him, and he is still hard himself, burning with shame and with need.

The other man is then dropped off, and they drive on.

“Now, where were we?” Shiki murmurs.

Izaya shudders, trying to duck to protect his neck, only for the other man to jerk him up by his hair. He sinks his teeth into a fresh part of Izaya's throat as he finally, finally begins to move his hips. Feeling Izaya's orgasm build, Shiki slashes his own tongue with his teeth, and pulls the informant's mouth to his own.

-

Izaya has passed out. Shiki doesn’t begrudge it. He has done well so far. The vampire leans forward to press the button for the divider between himself and his driver.

“Drop me home, would you, Hideo?” he says genially. “In the garage is fine.”

Izaya is still out when they pull up. Shiki drags him out of the car and into the main part of the house, throwing him unceremoniously into the living room. Izaya comes to on the carpet and starts groaning.

Ignoring him, Shiki lights the fire and pours himself a whiskey. He removes his bloody jacket and tosses it into the laundry basket. Sometimes the stains came out, sometimes they didn’t. Izaya has gone quiet and still, but Shiki can tell by his heartbeat that he is still conscious. He is strong, and he will last a long time. Shiki’s living room smells beautiful with him in it.

He strolls to the informant leisurely. Izaya flinches, but doesn’t try to crawl away.

“You have, I’d say...20 hours from now until you die,” Shiki tells him. “Unless I help you out. You’re a good informant, after all. It’s just your...lack of loyalty I have a problem with. Not to mention your grating personality.”

There’s a slight twitch, as if the informant wanted to say something. Shiki smiles, and bends down to tear the gag off.

To his surprise, Izaya starts laughing. Perhaps Shiki had taken more blood than he realised.

“Vampire Yakuza?” the informant splutters. “What is this, a bad manga?”

Shiki smiles condescendingly.

“I’m glad you’re able to find some amusement in your situation.”

“Might as well die laughing, no?”

“Unless I decide I’d prefer you die screaming,” Shiki says casually.

He hears the informant swallow.

“Seriously, you should hear yourself,” Izaya says shakily. “You’re worse than a Bond villain. Or a something out of a Gothic romance.”

He pulls Izaya up to his knees by his hair, making him cringe with pain. His erection is back, and he lets the informant feel it as he sinks into his neck again. Finally, the first scent of tears come, and he smiles.

“You are making this very easy for me, Izaya,” Shiki tells him, lapping up the still flowing blood.

The fire is just behind him, Izaya can feel it against his naked back. He tries to find his balance on his knees, for if Shiki lets go he will probably topple right into it.

“If I can offer you some advice,” the other continues smoothly. “This may be the one time in your life where you may want to watch your tongue.”

Izaya nods blindly.

A buzzing comes from Shiki’s trouser leg then.

“Now, who is that,” he tuts in annoyance. He lowers Izaya by the hair, making sure he falls forward not backwards. He answers the phone with the informant trembling against his chest. “Akabayashi. I thought you would know I’m busy.”

There’s a silence as he listens to the other man. His spare hand comes up to twirl Izaya’s hair.

“I see,” he says, after a moment. Then he hangs up. “What a nuisance. It looks like I’ll have to leave you here for a while.” He replaces the gag before Izaya can respond. “But I shouldn’t be long, and then I can finish playing with you. Do yourself a favour and lie on your left side, so you don’t choke on your own blood.”

He pushes Izaya off him, narrowly missing the fire, and stands to go, not bothering to get fresh clothes.

“And remember, as you so cleverly pointed out, this isn’t a bad manga, so don’t try to do anything stupid.”

He leaves with a smile on his face.

His driver has gone home, so he takes his own car out of the garage and pulls out into the night.

He does not notice the man watching him from across the street.

-

Shizuo and Celty stare at the car they'd just barely managed to follow. In Shizuo's hand is Izaya's knife, which he'd seen dropped on the side of the road. 

"Keep watch out here," Shizuo says to her.

She thrusts her phone in his face at once.

_You are NOT going in there._

"And just leave him there?" Shizuo argues. "I know he's an asshole, but come on. Just, keep watch, call me if you see anything."

He shakes her off and jogs to the house before she can change his mind.

He fiddles with the door for a moment, trying to remember a programme he saw once on picking locks. Then he shakes his head. What was he thinking? He smashes the window instead.

Immediately an alarm starts to screech. He has to be fast.

He climbs through the window, dusting glass off himself. 

"Izaya? Are you - holy _shit_.”

Izaya is on the floor in the corner, naked, bound and covered in blood. He stares up at Shizuo confusedly through his hair.

“It’s all right, you’re all right,” Shizuo says as he hurries over. “I’m gonna help you.”

He tears the gag off, only to reel back as a pair of fangs are revealed.

“ _Fuck_.”

“Help me,” Izaya snaps. “We have to get out, now.”

“Hang on.”

Shizuo punches the alarm screen on the wall, immediately cracking it. Then he takes out Izaya’s knife and cuts through the ropes, revealing his hands to be clawed too. Izaya grimaces as he moves slowly, arms clearly cramping. Shizuo digs into the closet and finds an old winter coat, wrapping it around Izaya’s body and helping him stand.

“Can you walk?”

He takes a faltering step before stumbling, answering Shizuo’s question for him.

“Wait,” he says, as Shizuo takes him into his arms. “You should leave me.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Look at me,” he snaps, holding his claws in front of Shizuo’s face. “I’m already fucked. There’s no need for him to get you too.”

Shizuo tightens his grip, already heading for the front door.

“We’ll find something,” he says. “So long as you’re not dead, there’s a chance.”

“Not...not hospital,” he says, as Shizuo waves for Celty. The neighbours are suspiciously quiet, with no curtain twitches, no lights. “They’ll put me in a zoo.”

“Since when do you or I go to hospitals,” Shizuo growls, as Celty pulls up alongside them.

-

Back in his car, Shiki tuts as his phone pings at him. Could he do anything without interruptions today? He blinks in surprise when he sees that his house alarm has gone off. And smiles. Oh, Izaya.

Part of him expects to find Izaya halfway out the window, but his home is mockingly empty, although the window is indeed smashed, the alarm long silent. Shiki almost laughs. Bad manga indeed. But it hadn’t been an escape. If it was, Izaya couldn’t have made it down the street without collapsing. No, it was a rescue, the smell alone was clear enough on that. But who in the world would risk their life to rescue Izaya Orihara?

-

The three of them help Izaya to the couch and pull down the coat so it just covered his lower half, while Shizuo explains. 

“Stop staring, Shinra, I am not a fucking science experiment,” Izaya snaps.

“Right, right, sorry,” Shinra says hurriedly. “So, what did he do exactly? Give you some of his blood? How much of it?”

“I don’t know,” he groans. His eyes flutter and close.

“How did you know? SHizuo asks the doctor.

“Bad movies?” he grins sheepishly, but his eyes are vague, concentrating. “Thinking logically, it’s the blood that’s infected him, so, a blood transfusion could work. You’re type O, right?” he says, staring hard at Shizuo.

“Oh, God.”

“It’s up to you,” Shinra says, shrugging.

“Yeah, it’s up to me, like it’s a fucking option,” Shizuo growls, already rolling up his sleeve. “Hurry up already, he looks like a ghost.”

-

Izaya’s eyes open and focus. He is still lying down. He turns to the side to find something in his arm. Someone has dressed him in a t shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He follows it to a neighbouring table, up to Shizuo’s arm, where he is flexing his fist to pump the blood faster.

“Oh wow,” Izaya murmurs.

Shizuo gives him a hard look.

“You fucking owe me, flea.”

“Unless I die,” he counters.

“You _better_ not fucking die, not after all this.”

There’s a silence. Then he says, very quietly, “Thank you.”

Shinra and Celty return with fruit juice for Shizuo and more cloths for Izaya's blood.

 _I think it’s working,_ Celty types. _His claws are gone._

Izaya looks at screen dubiously, and feels his now flat teeth with his tongue.

“It could be temporary," he argues. "They could come back.”

“Look on the fucking bright side, would you,” Shizuo growls. “I don’t wanna be doing this for nothing.”

Shinra removes their needles and wraps them both up, and he and Celty help them sit up.

“How do you feel?” Shinra asks, his eyes darting between both of them.

“I have to go,” Izaya says, before Shizuo can answer. “He will have noticed I’m gone now. You don’t want him coming after you.”

They look at each other. Shinra starts to speak.

“Don’t they say vampires can’t cross water? You could -”

“Shiki’s in and out of Hong Kong all the time, so that’s a bust,” Izaya interrupts. “And he goes out in sunlight, albeit not very often. I think we should ignore the myths.”

Shinra opens his mouth to argue when his phone rings. He tuts and goes to turn it off, but his arm jerks when he sees who it is.

“It’s Shiki.”

Izaya sits up.

“Let me answer it,” he says.

“Are you crazy?” Shizuo snaps.

“Look, it’s obvious I’d come here,” Izaya snaps back. “Just let me answer it, or he might come up.”

Shinra hesitates, and hands over the phone.

“Hello, Shiki.”

“Izaya, you’re alive,” Shiki drawls. “I couldn’t smell you.”

Izaya waits him out.

“Come downstairs,” the other man commands. “I’d like to negotiate terms.”

 _No_ , Shizuo mouths at him. Izaya swallows.

“You must think I’m pretty stupid if you think I’d do that.”

“I think you’d be even more stupid if you made me come up there to kill you all,” he says lazily.

“...OK.”

“No!” Shizuo tries to yank the phone off him.

“What do you want me to do?” Izaya snaps at him, covering the phone. “He could come for you, he could come for my sisters. He said he wanted to negotiate terms so I’m going to negotiate terms.”

“What the hell does that mean? How much of your blood he’s legally entitled to?”

Izaya flinches, but his face remains hard.

“I’m coming down,” he tells Shiki, and hangs up.

Celty holds out her phone.

_I'll come with you. I’ll hide behind the other cars, and I’ll be there if something happens. He won't be able to smell me._

Izaya nods, too out of it to even thank her. Without looking at any of them, he forces himself to his feet and out the door before he can think about it.

-

Shiki is waiting for him, leaning against his car. He still hasn’t bothered to change his suit. He watches Izaya limp idly.

“Want a hand?” he calls, seeing him limp.

“No,” he growls.

He has to wait an agonizingly long time it takes to limp over, not just because of his weakness and being bitten but the...other injuries. He has to lean against a neighbouring car once he gets there.

“I want you to think very hard about what you’re doing now,” Shiki says. “I mean, you’ve always wanted to be 21 forever. This is your chance.”

Izaya grits his teeth and doesn’t speak.

Shiki’s tone lowers.

“And I know you’re lonely.”

Izaya stiffens. Behind the car, Celty leans forward, no longer able to hear what the older man is saying.

“I know you’ve always wanted to belong somewhere,” Shiki continues smoothly. “Think about it. Think about what I can offer you.”

Izaya does think about it. Until he realises what he’s doing and shakes his head.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“You realise I don’t have to negotiate with you at all,” Shiki says now, his voice hard. “I could just take you. And you would have considerably more freedom if you came willingly.”

“You are negotiating though,” Izaya says hesitantly, shaky on his legs. “So there must be something you might want from me. What is it? Work for free? Grass up my contacts?”

Shiki looks at him for a long time. Izaya forces himself not to drop his gaze.

“I want loyalty,” he says finally. “I don’t care that you’re a contractor, I need loyalty. I can increase your pay so you’ll no longer need other clients.”

Izaya laughs shakily.

“Loyalty and a pay rise. That’s it? Sounds to good to be true.”

“That’s it,” Shiki says. “But think about what I said, Izaya. I can do more for you.”

“You say that, but you were talking about me like I was a piece of meat a few hours ago,” he sneers. “It wouldn't exactly be a glamorous eternity for me.”

“That was because you were,” Shiki tells him. “And you still are. But I can change that. If I decide, and you decide, that I protect you.”

Izaya shakes his head.

“Loyalty and payrise, please.”

Just like that Shiki is an inch in front of Izaya, making him flinch. Behind the cars Celty is tensed, her coils ready.

“Do yourself a favour and don’t leave it until your in your forties like I did. You might as well hold on to your pretty face.”

Izaya turns his face away, fearing the worst. But, to his surprise, Shiki disappears. The car is gone too.

Celty comes out and stands by his side.

_Are you OK?_

“...can we go back upstairs?”

-

Shinra makes them cocoa. After holding back as long as he can, he bounces between Shizuo and Izaya on the sofa and slings an arm around the both.

“You know, when we were in high school, all I ever wanted was for the three of us to go on a big adventure," he says happily. 

“Fuck you, Shinra,” Izaya splutters.

Shizuo just looks at Celty ironically. _You’re_ _with this guy?_

When they’ve recovered enough, he and Izaya share a cab home - they're far too woozy for the bike, and far too irked by Shinra to stay. They agree Izaya deserves to be dropped off first.

“Are you sure you don't want him to watch over you for the night?” Shizuo says, as they pull away.

“Are you kidding?” the informant responds. “He’d probably do tests on me all night.”

He rests his head on the cab window and doesn’t move again.

Shizuo has to shake him gently when they arrive.

“We’re here.”

He comes to slowly. Then he starts pulling Shizuo out of the car, saying, “I need to talk to you a sec.”

Once they’re out, he grabs Shizuo’s wallet and pays the driver and thanks him.

The car has pulled away before Shizuo realises what’s happening.

“I’ll pay you back," he says, handing over the wallet.

“What the fuck, Izaya?” Shizuo says in response, as the car taillights disappears. “I’m _tired_ , you asshole, I wanna go home.”

“Can you stay with me?” Izaya blurts. “I’m scared.”

Shizuo’s about to snap again, but the look in the other’s eyes softens him.

“You should have stayed with Shinra,” he grumbles. Then he rolls his eyes. “Fine, let’s go. Oh, before I forget, this is for you.’

He digs into his pocket and hands Izaya his folded knife.

Izaya takes it tenderly, like it is most treasured possession. Rolling his eyes again, Shizuo pushes him towards the building’s doors. He wants to sleep.

Izaya had lost his keys along with his phone, wallet and clothes, but of course he has a spare hidden somewhere that he doesn't let Shizuo see. He lets them in and turns on the lights. Then he just stands there for a moment, like he’s thinking. Shizuo watches him uncertainly.

“So...couch?” Shizuo ventures eventually, when it’s clear the informant isn’t going to move on his own.

He blinks. “Huh? No, I have a guest room. Come on.”

Izaya’s guest room has apparently not seen many guests. It is practically bare, and the bed is stripped. Izaya goes into a cupboard and starts pulling out sheets, pillows and towels haphazardly.

“What else do you need?” Izaya says blearily. He looks like he is about to keel over.

“I need something to crash on, that’s all,” Shizuo assures, taking the bundle of bedding off him. “I’ll do this. You go to bed.”

“Thanks.” He heads out, pauses at the door and smiles. “I’ll pay you body guard wages. The best on the market.”

“Damn straight. You’re also paying for me to have a 5 star trip to Hawaii when this is over, all inclusive.”

Izaya smiles weakly, and leaves him. Shizuo hears him around for a few minutes as he makes the bed, and then the small sigh of the mattress as Izaya lies down. He tugs off his own clothes and sinks into bed.

-

Falling asleep was surprisingly easy, like someone had turned off a light in his head, and it is equally dark and silent when he stirs. He wonders what could have woken him, when he realises he’s not alone.

“It’s me,” Izaya says softly, when Shizuo shoots up in bed.

“Fuck, _Izaya_ ,” Shizuo gasps, and resists the urge to throw a pillow. “What do you want?”

“I just, I couldn’t sleep, and I needed to...I mean, I wondered if…”

Shizuo figures it out before he can say it.

“You can sleep here,” he mutters.

“...really?”

“Yeah, I mean, come on, this is a weird situation, I’m not gonna judge.”

“Thank you.”

He gets in beside Shizuo, shifts around for a while before he is sleeps. Shizuo drifts once he is quiet.

-

The sun is streaked across the bed when he wakes again, suggesting it is some time in late morning. Izaya is well away. Shizuo picks up his clothes and the towel and toothbrush Izaya had given him, and slips out. He goes downstairs after showering, finds himself starving. Sunday. He's free until the evening, when he and Tom tried to catch people unawares, but he doesn't want to think about that now. 

Izaya joins him about an hour later. He’s back in his own clothes, but he looks as though he hasn’t slept at all.

“Sorry, got hungry,” Shizuo says sheepishly, gesturing to the food. “You should eat. Shinra says we need iron.”

“Hm,” he says. He helps himself to the tea Shizuo had made and sits across from him.

After they’ve eaten, Izaya tries to give Shizuo money from a secret stash he must have somewhere, which ends in a pointless argument when Shizuo refuses to take it.

“I don’t want your money,” Shizuo says for the third time. “I told you, it was the right thing to do, not a fucking service I charge for.”

“Fine,” Izaya growls eventually. “Beginning to see why you live in a six tatami mat apartment. Idiot.”

“Hey, fuck you,” Shizuo says tiredly. “What time is it anyway? I gotta work later, and I wanna change my clothes.”

Izaya doesn’t argue, but he looks edgy.

The look doesn’t change even as Shizuo is about to leave, and it makes him uneasy too. The informant really didn't look good, and he was still limping around, even if he;d mostly healed.

“I could...come back later,” Shizuo offers cautiously. “I can bring my stuff.”

Izaya looks at him warily.

“Really? You don’t have to.”

“It’s all right, I’m not so crazy about being alone after what happened either. And, we both lost some blood, so it’s probably best to have someone else around anyway.”

He forces himself to shut up.

“OK,” Izaya says. Then he says, “Maybe you should take the day off anyway. I’m sure Tom would understand.”

“I kind of want to go and see him. It’ll make things more normal.”

Izaya nods without arguing.

“I’ll text you my new number. I’m going to start using one of my spare phones.”

“Spare phones…?

“Yeah. You want one?” He looks at Shizuo almost politely, as if offering candy.

“Er...I’m good, thanks. See you later.”

-

Being alone is awful. Izaya fidgets around the house. He sends Namie a message giving her the week off. She will ask questions, and he’s not in the mood for dealing with it. Besides, Shizuo will be here.

It still hurts. Not his neck and wounds so much, but there is a constant pain between his legs, mking it difficult to sit down or move with ease. Ironic too, because he had always wondered what... _that_ kind of sex was like, and now he knows. It was awful. It would be hard to go through that much pain for anyone, even if there was someone he really liked. Which there wasn’t.

Finally, he opens his laptop and checks his email. An attachment from Shiki is sitting at the top of hix inbox. The accompanying message simply reads, _Let me know if you have any questions._

Izaya scans it once before reading it properly. It is surprisingly simple. The exclusivity of Izaya’s services is laid out in no unclear terms, and the pay is more than double. He swallows. He fumbles for his new phone.

“Shiki, it’s me.”

“Oh, hello, Izaya,” Shiki says. “I forgot I had your phone. Let me know when you want to pick up your things.”

“Thanks,” Izaya says uneasily. “Um, I got the contract.”

“Good. All clear? I can give you a few days if you want a lawyer to look over it, but I’ve tried to make it as straightforward as possible.”

“Yep, all clear, I just wanted to check if...um...there was anything...missing?”

“Missing?”

“Mm. As you’re paying me a lot more money - which I appreciate - so I just wanted to check there weren’t any, um, unwritten terms?” He cringes as he speaks.

“Oh, I see,” Shiki chuckles. “No, no unwritten or unspoken terms. Everything is black and white in front of you, and very little has been revised from your original contract. Namely, your exclusivity and your compensation.”

The contract makes no mention of what will happen if Izaya breaches his exclusivity terms, but it’s not like he needs to ask. Something occurs to him then.

“How many people know you’re a vampire?”

“None of your business.”

That was fair enough.

“OK,” Izaya says cautiously. “What about Akabayashi?”

“What about him?”

“...nothing, I guess.”

“Good,” Shiki says, as if that cleared that up. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”

-

Shizuo’s day goes in a blur. He returns with an overnight bag, and is greeted to the smell of something delicious when Izaya lets him in.

“Man, that smells great.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s just hot pot. I made plenty,” Izaya says vaguely. “Did you tell Tom?”

“Yeah. Not as a big of a reaction as I was hoping. Maybe this town is getting used to weird shit,” he sighs, taking a seat and helping himself to food, digging in. “What did you do today?”

“Not much. Slept. Drifted around. Shiki sent me my new contract.”

Shizuo stops eating.

“And?”

“And nothing. It’s just what we discussed. I work for him exclusively and he matches the competitors’ pay. Nothing unexpected, nothing weird.” He stares off into space. “I thought of doing a runner but, you know, my sisters are here, and I’m all set up here in terms of my networks so, I think I’d rather just risk it and stay.”

Shizuo nods. After a moment they resume eating.

“Was it a blood contract?”

“What?" Izaya gives him an odd look. “No? It was an e-document.”

So Shizuo stays. They fall into a routine, eating together, watching TV, snarking without any real bite to it. Izaya gets bored easily when Shizuo is not there. Working for only one party, he finishes his current assignment in three days and is left with nothing to do until Shiki sends him a follow-up.

“I wouldn’t complain about that,” Shizuo offers. “Good pay for three days a week? That sounds great.”

“I suppose,” Izaya says, taking an apple from his fruit bowl and taking a bite. His wrists look spindly against his sweater. He seemed to have lost weight overnight when it happened and never quite gained it back. “But the whole point in being freelance was the independence.”

Shizuo tears his eyes from the informant’s wrist and tries to focus on what he's saying.

“So do something else independent. Get a hobby.”

Izaya makes a vague noise. He seems depressed, so Shizuo tries to think of something that will snap him out of it.

“You do know that’s a red, shiny apple you’re eating?”

Izaya stops eating and turns to look at him slowly.

“Shizu-chan, did you just make a _Twilight_ reference? Get the fuck out of my house.”

Shizuo laughs, and so does Izaya, and something pleasant unclenches inside when he does so. It feels like the first time he's laughed in a good while.

-

He’s alone too much. When Namie returns, he doesn’t tell her. She would probably tell him he should have negotiated for more money. It makes him smile, that idea of Namie wrinkling her nose at Shiki-the-vampire's demands and telling him where to go.

He gets his phone back; Shiki sends this along with his wallet and keys when it’s obvious that Izaya will never come to collect them. He doesn’t send the clothes, as there had been little of them left. Izaya goes upstairs to get away from Namie and shuts the bedroom door.

“I just ran into Shinra,” the older man says idly.

“...did you eat him?” Izaya says, only half joking.

“No, but I was tempted. He’s annoyed with me because you won’t leave the house. Said I’ve traumatised you.”

“That is not true,” Izaya snaps, bristling. “And anyway, what does it matter so long as I’m getting your work done?”

“Well, I believe the contract was for Izaya Orihara, not some scared little dog.”

“Fuck you,” he snaps before he can stop himself.

Shiki chuckles.

“I’ll see you round then.”

-

Izaya is still seething when Shizuo stops by, after Namie has left for the day.

“He called me a scared little dog just because I’ve been staying inside for a while!” he tells Shizuo again. “Unbelievable!”

“Be careful,” Shizuo warns. “He might be trying to goad you on purpose.”

“He was trying to be an _asshole_. But anyway, it doesn’t matter, I’ll go out tomorrow. In fact, I’ll stay out all day!”

“That’ll tell him.”

Izaya gives Shizuo a very dangerous look.

“Er, you got any crackers or anything?’ Shizuo says awkwardly, dodging round him to get into the kitchen. “Really hungry all of a sudden…”

-

Izaya chills out by evening, when they are at either end of the sofa and bickering about what to watch. Shizuo doesn’t know how long he can keep coming over whenever he wants. Izaya clearly didn’t need company at night any more, but he didn’t want to just disappear and hurt the others feelings. He decides it would be easier and more sensible to just wait for Izaya to tell him to go away.

“Oh, that’s where I wanna go,” Shizuo says suddenly, distracted by a commercial. “Hokkaido. I’ve always wanted to learn to ski.”

“What happened to Hawaii?” Izaya says cryptically.

“I could do both. A summer trip and a winter trip. I deserve both, don’t you think?”

Izaya snorts in response.

“Be careful, Shizu-chan, you’re starting to sound like me."

“Yeah, right.”

Izaya keeps smiling at the TV.

“I will pay for it if you want to go somewhere though,” he says. “Seriously.”

“I’m good.”

They don't speak again until the next commercial break.

“You know,” Izaya says. “I don’t think I need babysitting any more, if you’re tired of coming over all the time.”

Shizuo twitches slightly at the words. This could be the ‘go away,’ he’d been waiting for, if worded more nicely than he had expected. But it doesn’t bring the relief he expected to fail.

“OK. I can stop coming over if you want.”

Izaya gives him a look.

“That’s not what I said."

“...OK,” Shizuo says, not really knowing what to do with that.

Izaya is quiet afterwards, and Shizuo is unable to figure out if he’s in a huff or not. He keeps quiet as well, figuring he’ll probably end up staying any way if it gets late.

Izaya sits up around midnight to turn off the TV, yawning. Shizuo makes a show of getting his stuff together, slightly disappointed when Izaya makes no move to stop him.

“You know,” Shizuo says casually, trying for humour. “It wouldn’t really be like a bad manga without a really corny romance bit.”

Izaya starts to laugh. He laughs in that hysterical way he had that tended to make people nervous if they didn’t know him.

Shizuo smiles weakly, happy to let his comment be taken whichever way Izaya wanted to take it.

The informant is still shaking with giggles when he pulls Shizuo towards him, going still only when he kisses him. Shizuo lets his bag drop off his shoulder - and promptly cries out as what was presumably the corner of his laptop almost breaks his toe.

Izaya starts giggling all over again.

“...or without some perfectly timed slapstick humour,” he smirks, winding his arms around Shizuo’s neck.

Shizuo steps over his bag as Izaya tugs him back down on the couch, trying to ignore the throbbing in his toe.

**The End?**


End file.
